In modern parlance, nerd is the pejorative form of geek, meaning someone who is highly interested in obscure
stuff, but the difference between a nerd and a geek is that nerds are socially awkward.

The writer uses the word stuff for intentional ambiguity. There are many different kinds of nerds. Science nerds, literature nerds, gaming nerds, etc.

I am, and have always been, a geek and a nerd. I memorize the rules to pencil/paper role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and I'm quite good at the Street Fighter series of videogames. I am a virtuouso, but a virtuouso of shit that virtually nobody
cares about.

And I happen to be quite adept at spinning my social awkwardness into self-deprecating humor, which some highly intelligent women tend to find irresistably attractive. I'm not particularly popular with the ladies, but I'm not a friendless virgin, either.

All that said, fuck John Green. He's not a nerd. He's a hipster pretending to be a nerd because it's fashionable. Y'know what else? The Big Bang Theory is not for nerds. It is for hipsters who want to act like nerds. And the only thing worse than the beta
male fuckburgers upstairs are fraudulent wannabe geeks who are responsible for diluting my elite subculture with their mediocrity and superficial "interest".

I've been an unrepentent nerd since 1991. When I was a kid all I cared about was dungeons & dragons and comic books; I think the only movies better than Lord of the Rings are the original three Star Wars and that the only thing better than the Lord of the
Rings books is nothing; I'd still be watching Star Trek the Next Generation if that shit was on and they were making new episodes; and in general anything else nerdy you can think of I embrace wholeheartedly.

But I have to say, being a nerd now isn't as special as it used to be. Late night TV in the US is dominated by people who grew up as nerds just like us: Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, Conan O'Brien. The business world worships uber-nerds like Bill Gates,
Larry Paige & Sergy Brin, and Mark Zuckerberg. Hackers are considered sexy and mysterious. ESPN even embraces fantasy sports now, which back when I played it when I was 12 was a major sign of nerd-dom. I gotta say, nerdness is mainstream now, and almost
boring.

I can't play D&D with only a 20-sider, but it is sufficient to play Mutants & Masterminds, a superhero RPG derived from D&D. I've been trying to adapt this system to use for a cyberpunk RPG of my own devising, but I'm far too lazy.

I incorrectly thought it was a dodecahedron, but now I know that's a 12-sider. My Greek sucks.

Anyway, the d20 is the most commonly used die (yes, that is correct the singular form of dice). In D&D, it is used for attack rolls (to determine if you hit someone with your sword, bow, magic ray, etc.) and saving throws (to resist magic, poison, dragon's
breath, etc.)

The other dice are mainly for determining damage. Depending on what edition you are playing, a knife usually deals 1d4 damage, a longsword deals 1d8 damage, and a two-handed sword deals 2d6 damage. This (x)d(y) is shorthand notation. 1d4 means you roll a
single 4-sided die. 2d6 means you roll two 6-sided dice and add them together.

An exception to this notation is 1d100 or 1d%, which means you roll two d10s and combine the digits. Actual 100-sided dice do exist, but as you would imagine, they are almost spherical and always fall off the gaming table onto the floor.

Mutants & Masterminds does not use these other dice because it does not use a hit points (HP) system for tracking damage. Instead, all game effects are resisted with a saving throw.

Sure, but since actions take place during turns, it would be difficult to re-roll the die without someone else noticing. Only the Dungeon Master (narrator and referee) is allowed to roll privately.

Besides, it's easier and more effective to cheat by adding a different modifier to the result of the roll, like adding +4 to your weapon damage roll if your strength statistic only entitles you to a +3.